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Hazelwood School District Health Occupations, District A+ Program Presented to Board
BY CAROL ARNETT
The Hazelwood School Board heard two presentations about district programs at the May meeting, one on health occupations curriculum and the other on the A+ program.
The first presentation was an update on the Health Occupations Curriculum. Gail Stewart, the director of the program, addressed the board.
The curriculum is offered to high school seniors. They meet with their Health Occupations teacher for three hours each day during the first semester, using the rest of the day to take regular high school classes. During the second semester, they gain clinical experience by going to hospitals and working with health care professionals.
The program is offered at all three high schools in the district. Each teacher is a registered nurse, as well as a certified teacher.
“The program meets industry standards,” Stewart said “and meets Department of Education standards for core competencies in health care science.
In the 05-06 school year, Stewart said, the program had 66 graduates. 85% of them went on to post-secondary education. Stewart said most of the 85% were working toward health care degrees.
The board commended Stewart and the Health Occupations staff for their work.
In the second presentation, Audrey Wittenauer updated the board on the A+ program. In this program, the school is certified to participate by the state. Once the school is certified, students can receive tuition to junior college if they meet certain grade standards and do volunteer work for the district.
Wittenauer said that the program is now in place in all three district high schools. 879 students are enrolled in the program, including 164 graduating seniors. Last year, she said, 95 seniors graduated, so the program has grown.
Board Member Carol Stroker said that she worked to get the program going during her time as a state legislator and was happy that it was successful in the district. “This program is a great opportunity for students who might not otherwise be able to go on to college,” she said.
The Board thanked Wittenauer and the program administrators from each high school for the program.
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